Prométhée is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in three acts by the French composer Gabriel Fauré

Gabriel Fauré

Gabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...

. The libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

, by Jean Lorrain

Jean Lorrain

Jean Lorrain , born Paul Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school....

 and Ferdinand Hérold, is based on the Greek myth of Prometheus

Prometheus

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...

. Although designated a tragédie lyrique, the opera resists easy categorisation. It was intended as a large-scale work with spoken and musical sections. The first performance at Arènes de Béziers

Béziers

Béziers is a town in Languedoc in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Hérault department. Béziers hosts the famous Feria de Béziers, centred around bullfighting, every August. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event...

 on 27 August 1900 involved almost 800 performers (including two wind bands and 15 harp

Harp

The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

s) and was watched by an audience of 10,000. Between 1914 and 1916, Jean Roger-Ducasse

Jean Roger-Ducasse

Jean Jules Amable Roger-Ducasse was a French composer.-Biography:Jean Roger-Ducasse studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Emile Pessard and André Gedalge, and was the star pupil and close friend of Gabriel Fauré...

 reworked the score for a reduced orchestra. This version (which was later revised by Fauré) made its debut at the Paris Opéra

Palais Garnier

The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...

 on 17 May 1917 but never became popular.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast Conductor: Charles Eustace
Prométhée (Prometheus)	spoken role	Max
Pandore (Pandora Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts... )	spoken role	Cora Laparcerie
Hermès (Hermes Hermes Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and... )	spoken role	Odette de Fehl
Aenoë	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Torrês
Bia	soprano	Caroline Fiérens-Peters
Gaïa	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...	Rosa Feldy
Andros	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Charles Rousselière
Kratos	tenor	Fonteix
Hephaïstos (Hephaestus Hephaestus Hephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan. He is the son of Zeus and Hera, the King and Queen of the Gods - or else, according to some accounts, of Hera alone. He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals, metallurgy, fire and volcanoes... )	bass	Jean Vallier

Act I

The mortal men, led by Andros and Aenoë, are waiting for Prometheus' arrival. Prometheus comes with a gift for them. Gaia appears and warns the titan not to desobey Zeus' orders and then leaves. Prometheus does not listen to her and gives them the gift, the fire. The mortal men leave and soon arrive Kratos (power) and Bia (violence), sent by Zeus to punish him; with them is Hephaestus, the divine forger, who is a friend of Prometheus. The three tell Prometheus his sentence: he will be chained forever to a rock and every day a black eagle shall drink from his veins.

Act II

Aenoë and the other girls lament for Prometheus' fate and then leave. Prometheus is back with Kratos, Bia and Hephaestus. Hephaestus laments for his friend but still has to make his chains and bind him to the rock. Bia and Kratos are there to make sure Hephaestus will do what he has to do, he delays but finishes his duty. Kratos, Bia and Hephaestus leave, Prometheus remains chained to the rock.

Act III

Pandora suffers for Prometheus, the nymphs try to comfort her. Bia and Kratos tell Pandora she should not suffer and warn her she can be punished for this. Hermes arrives with a gift from Zeus, a box. Prometheus warn the men not to accept a gift from Zeus, but Pandora doesn't listen and take it. The opera ends with a praise to Zeus and his benevolence, besides Prometheus' suffering.

Productions

This opera has been very rarely made, but on july 2011 there was a brazilian production by the Núcleo Universitário de Ópera (NUO), in São Paulo. This brazilian production included recitatives instead of spoken lines and a new orchestration by their conductor and director, Paulo Maron.

Sources

• The Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (1993)
• Del Teatro (in Italian)
• Amadeus Almanac online
• NUO'blog